Chair.



E. M. MOSHEB.

CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23. I915.

Patented Jilly 27, 1915.

l/Vl/E/VTOR W A TTORIVEY to F M. KOSHER, OF NEW YORIZ, N. Y.

CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Application-filed January 23, 1915. Serial No. 3,857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIZA M. MOSHER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Chairs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in chair seats for infants adapted to be used from the time a child first begins to sit up, until it is two or three years old, and more especially it relates to a chair seat particularly adapted for use in combination with a baby carria e, wherein it may be placed upon and use instead of the ordinary seat.

I have found that it is practically impossible to obtain a chair upon the market which fulfils the scientific requirements of a chair for infants use, and it is equally difficult to find a baby carriage which is constructed in accord with well defined scientific requirements. I have found that serious derangements of the abdominal organs may result from the use of faultily constructed chairs or baby carriages because of the unnatural positions into which a child is forced thereby.

To provide a suitable chair seat constructed along scientific lines, to provide means whereby the ordinary baby carriage may be easily modified to accord with the requirements hereinafter described, and at the same time to make the improved chair seat most available for widespread use at small expense, are the principal objects of my invention, and these objects I have attained by the means hereinafter described.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention, and therein Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a chair seat constructed as hereinafter described, shown in connection with the ordinary baby c'arriage; Fig. 2 is a perspective of the chair seat alone; Fig. 3 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the improved chair seat with the upholstering removed; ig. 4 is a vertical cross section of the chair seat at a point indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section at a point indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

The improved chair seat as shown in the drawings may be made of one piece of sheetmetal stamped out and formed into the shape here shown by a die, or, it may be shaped by hammering. The joints, if there be any, may be fastened by rivets or by solder. Herein the frame work of the chair 1s shown as being made from one piece of metal cut substantially in a form having a rectangular body portion to form the seat and back, and two wing portions to be bent up to form the sides. Then, as shown herein, the sides are joined to the back by solderin Speci cally referring to the drawings, and in particular to the figures showing the unupholstered frame of the chair seat, the same comprises a seat a, a back 6, two sides or arms a and (Z, and a foot support 6. A strap or band 7 is also provided to prevent the child from falling out of the chair. In Fig. l the chair seat is shown as resting upon an ordinary seat 9 of a baby carriage it. The parts of the baby carriage are not marked, its construction being sufliciently obvious for the purposes of this application.

Referring now to the sectional figures, it will be seen that the seat a slopes slightly downward from front to rear and that it is hollowed; two smaller hollows being formed within the larger hollow, lowest points at z and j and forming what is termed a saddle seat. Thus the seat conforms as nearly as may be to the anatomy of the infant and gives support at the correct points for greatest comfort. The seat a is also narrowed from the back toward the front to more properly hold the infant into the seat. The length of the seat from front to back is such that the average child within the ages specified above, will be able, when sitting well back in the chair, to bend its knees and rest its feet upon the adjustable foot support. I have found that the seats of ordinary baby carriages, high-chairs,etc., are invariably too deep and prevent a child from bending its knees as it should when sitting erect.

The back I) of the chair is formed to curve backward slightly at the bottom to a point k and then forward to a point Z which is approximately a little less than the height of the childs shoulder blades, because the support for the childs back should properly come justunder the shoulder blades. The curvature of the back of the chair conforms to the natural curve of the childs back. At the top, the back 6 of the chair is rolled rearwardly, providing a support for the thus bringing the v childs head, should it lean back. A straight chair-back is entirely unsuited for a small child because in the normal erect position it affords insuilicient support for the back, the normal position in sitting erect bringing the shoulders slightly forward. Any other position brings too much pressure on the shoulder blades with a consequent tendency to make the child round shouldered, and to cramp the lungs and interfere with breathing.

The sides 0 and d flare gradually toward the top and converge slightly toward the front of the chair seat. This provides the greatest width at the point Where the childs body is broadest and also tends to keep the child well back in the chair and consequently erect as it should be. At points we and n on the sides 0 and d, I have provided suitable means for attaching the strap or band f, the means being shown herein as elongated loops m and n firmly attached to the frame of the chair seat. It is important that these loops be located well down on the sides and back from the front of the chair in order that the band or strap f may, when passed in front of the child to hold it in the chair, bear against the lower part of the childs abdomen when the child leans forward. I have found that infants may permanently injure themselves by straining against such straps as they are usually located in baby carriages and high-chairs; because the strap is invariably so positioned as to bear against the upper part of the abdomen when the child leans forward, thus forcing the bowels downward and also interfering with the childs breathing, and from such conditions permanent injury may result. With the band I positioned as herein described, the tendency will be to support the childs bowels, not to depress them.

I provide suitable means for adjusting the foot rest 6, the same being herein shown as a pair of arms 0 and p pivoted near the front edge of the seat a and rigidly fastened to the foot rest 6. These arms are in two parts, are sl0tted,'have interlocking corrugations and are held in any desired relative position by bolts and wing nuts It is of importance that the foot rest be adjusted correctly to allow the infant a good support for its feet in order to relieve the undesirable pressure on the under part of the thigh which would be present if the feet were unsupported.

The frame of the chair seat having been carefully constructed, as hereinabove described, very little upholstering is needed and it may be easily put on by applying a thin layer of upholstering material and covering the same with a suitable fabric.

One of the chief advantages of my chair seat, aside from its adaptability for use in connection with a baby carriage, is its adaptability for wide use in connection with all sorts of baby chairs, for it is as easily movable as a cushion. It may be used in a.

near the front edge of the seat, and attaching means upon the sides of the chair for positioning a band or strap to bear-against and support the lower abdominal region of an infant seated therein.

- 2. An infants chair having a rearwardly sloping saddle seat, a back formed to curve first to the rear then forward to fit the curvature of an infants back, and sides converging toward the front, in combination with a flexible adjustable band attached to the sides at points appreciably removed from the front edges thereof, said band being adapted to bear against and support the lower abdominal region of said infant,'and a pivoted foot support fastened to or near the front edge of said seat.

3. An infants chair having a saddle seat, a back curved rearwardly from the rear line of said seat and then forwardly to form a support for an infants back and adapted to contact with said infants back just below the shoulder blades, and sides converging toward the front, in combination with a vertically adjustable foot support pivoted at or near the front edge of said seat, and a flexible adjustable band attached tothe sides of said chair at points midway between the top of said sides and said seat and adapted when passed in front of an infant seated in two subscribing witnesses, this nineteenth day of January, 1915.

ELIZA M. MOSHER, Witnesses:

LUoIUs E. VARNEY, MANVEL WHITTEMORE. 

